{"id":502153,"date":"2026-02-25T01:54:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T01:54:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/502153\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T01:54:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T01:54:15","slug":"nrl-entangled-in-lomax-eels-court-standoff-nrl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/502153\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL entangled in Lomax-Eels court standoff – NRL News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NRL<\/a> has been drawn into the Zac Lomax<\/a> stoush after Parramatta issued an urgent subpoena seeking documents detailing the league’s involvement in the matter.<\/p>\n

Parramatta launched legal proceedings to block Lomax from joining the Melbourne Storm<\/a>, arguing his release from a four-year contract was contingent on the Eels providing written consent.<\/p>\n

The Blues<\/a> winger had been granted a release to join rebel rugby competition R360, but he has been left in limbo after the competition’s inaugural season was postponed until 2028.<\/p>\n

It has been confirmed ahead of next week’s hearing that Melbourne chairman Matt Tripp must testify in person rather than via video<\/a> link.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lawyers representing Parramatta have requested the NRL<\/a> hand over all documentation and information related to its involvement in the Lomax situation.<\/p>\n

Traditionally, it is required that two weeks are given to comply with subpoena requests.<\/p>\n

However, the NRL<\/a> has been given until February 27 to provide the materials.<\/p>\n

In records submitted to the court, it was shared that Storm chief executive Justin Rodski allegedly sent a text message to the NRL<\/a> CEO Andrew Abdo.<\/p>\n

The messages allegedly said:\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Hi Andrew, not getting anywhere at this point, can you apply the blow torch on parramatta [sic] to get this done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rodski then added, \u201cLomax staying in the NRL<\/a> is obviously a win for the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to a document that was given to the court by the Eels:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis message was an attempt to use the NRL<\/a> to place pressure on the Parramatta Eels<\/a> to resolve the matter on terms acceptable to the Melbourne Storm<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring negotiations, this communication was not disclosed by the Melbourne Storm<\/a> to the Parramatta Eels<\/a>. It is not known whether any other communications have occurred between the NRL<\/a> and the Melbourne Storm<\/a> concerning the placing of pressure or otherwise on the Parramatta Eels<\/a> to accept offers made by the Melbourne Storm<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court hearing is on March 2.<\/p>\n

Get set for the footy with the FREE Zero Tackle 2026 NRL Season Guide!<\/a> Packed with 130+ pages of player profiles, team previews, insights and analysis, the 2026 NRL Season Guide<\/a> is built for fans who want the full picture. Download your free Season Guide HERE.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NRL has been drawn into the Zac Lomax stoush after Parramatta issued an urgent subpoena seeking documents…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250550,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-502153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=502153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}